Following the Desert Coyote - 201st phonecast

Fixin' to go to the hardware store

I needed to go to the local hardware store.  The sun was shining.  I took the fixie!

Only 3 miles, but it was still fun.

 ................road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today..............3...............0.............0..........0.............,3 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............653..............0.............0.........0............653 April..............347.............0...............0.........0............347 Total.............1507.............0...............0.........0..........1507 

72%

I had plans to ride to Multnomah Falls and back today, a 100 mile round trip for me.  The last few times I've planned on it things happened to keep me from doing it.

Today was no different.

I took off easy.  Before I even got to Oregon City I pulled into a park next to the Tualatin River, just to look around.  As it ended up there were a few informational signs about the Willamette Meteorite that was found nearby. There was a 1/5 size replica of the meteorite onsite, the actual meteorite is in a museum in New York.

Instead of taking a picture of the pretend meteorite I took a picture of the Tualatin River. I've been at the headwaters in the Coast Range. It's a much larger river here near its confluence with the Willamette River.

From there it was just a short ride to the Oregon City Bridge.  The Oregon City Bridge crosses the Willamette River just downstream from Willamette Falls.  Willamette Falls is the largest falls by volume in the Pacific Northwest, and is the 17th widest falls in the world, but industrialization of the area has kept the public away from the falls for over 100 years.  Today the best views are from the cliffs above on the east bank in Oregon City.  I tried to find a place between trees and buildings to get a view coming along the west bank, but the best I could do was to get this shot of the eastern portion of the falls from the center of the Oregon City Bridge.

Just out of the frame of the above photo is the row of industry that limits access.

This was also a good angle to see the Willamette Falls Locks. These locks opened in 1873 and were operated until 2011, making them, at the time, the first and the longest serving multi-lift locks in the U.S.

Once across the Willamette River I made my way to the Clackamas River Trail.

 I  followed the Clackamas to High Rocks, where I accessed the I-205 Path.  I followed that to the Springwater Corridor and followed that to Gresham.

I took the Stark Street Bridge over the Sandy River and pedaled the Historic Columbia River Highway over Chanticleer Point and on out to Multnomah Falls.  I had a few snacks at the lodge then began to retrace the route back home.

I got back to where the Springwater Corridor path crossed Foster Rd.  I waited for the signal to change.  As the signal turned green I started to pedal but felt that strange thud as the chain fell between my 42 and 30 tooth chainrings.  I rolled to the side of the road and attempted to dislodge it.  I hadn't put power on it, but it was bound up tight.  I've had this happen a few times. Once in San Diego just as I was about to give up and call SAG, the chain came free as the bike was set up on the wheels.  On last year's Race Across Oregon my crew could not free it, despite having a full array of tools available.  Today I had a tire lever.  I fiddled, twisted, used rocks and sticks, looked for anything that might help.  Alas, the more I wiggled it, the worse it got.

Today, the easiest way out of this predicament was to call my sister, the same sister that has bailed me out on several other bike adventures. I made the call, then tried to get comfortable.

In about a half hour she arrived, I loaded the bike, and we were off.

72 miles of the planned 100, but at least I was going to make it home before dark.



 ................road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today.............72...............0.............0..........0.............72 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............653..............0.............0.........0............653 April..............344.............0...............0.........0............344 Total.............1504.............0...............0.........0..........1504 

Over the River and Through the Woods

To Grandmother's house I rode. Well, it was MY mother's house. She had informed me that there were a few "honey do"s on the list, so my plan to ride 100 miles to Multnomah Falls turned into a 55 mile round trip today. It was a decent day for a ride. There was a lot of blue sky around, and a splattering of big white puffy clouds. The first half of the commute is mostly on multi-use paths. Spring was evident.



As I neared Hillsboro on of those big white puffy clouds took on a darker hue, and spit a few raindrops on me. Nothing serious, but I was looking for cover just in case it suddenly got worse.

After a couple of hours I completed the tasks at my mother's and noted that the clouds were getting dark again. I was hoping to avoid any showers since I was on the fenderless carbon bike and didn't have rain gear along.

I kept a pretty good pace into Beaverton and the sky began to brighten up.  I had dodged the rain! 
I turned south and made my way back to Wilsonville.  The traffic was beginning to pick up a bit with the "goin' home" gang. As I went through Tualatin I took the lane and rode like traffic, after all, that's exactly what I was. 

I rolled back into home with 55 miles, just over half of what I was planning today.  I should have just pedaled some bonus miles you say?  Ya, but the old adage, no matter how long the ride is, when it's over you are ready for it to be over was true today.

It was a good ride though.

 ................road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today.............55...............0.............0..........0.............55 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............653..............0.............0.........0............653 April..............272.............0...............0.........0............272 Total.............1432.............0...............0.........0..........1432 

It's a long way to the top

  That is every bit as true today as when AC-DC sang it many years ago.

 In that song there is the line, "I tell you folks, it's harder than it looks".

That's what I was thinking today as I went for a little ride on the new bike.

Yup, a new bike, one with a flip-flop hub

I had a few errands to run today.  What better chance to go for a maiden voyage than a short distance easy ride?  I couldn't find any hipster fashions in the closet, but went for a ride anyway.  What good is a fixie if not a chance to show off your  track-stand skills?

  I can do a pretty decent track stand on my geared bikes, thought the additional control of a fixie would make this easy.

  Well, as Bon Scott sang, I tell you folks, it's harder than it looks!  I found that I didn't have the leg strength to move the pedals back and forth fast enough to react to the need for balancing.  I can balance my geared bikes at a stop far longer than I could on the fixie today.  I guess practice is what's called for. I got 6 miles in.

EVENING UPDATE:

I went out for a little evening ride.  Just goofing around, I rode to Memorial Park in Wilsonville.  I puttered around the paths and trails.

I had one tense moment as I rolled down an incline.  I was coming to an intersection where either I had to turn sharply or go straight ahead into gravel.  Despite my best efforts to control my forward progress I was gaining speed.  I finally had to "bail out" and use the brakes.  If I were a true fixie rider I would have been able to lock that back wheel up and stop, but alas.

I played tourist a bit and read about the historic barns of the area.

I also took a look at the community gardens.

I finally decided I had better get back home as the sky was beginning to darken and a few large drops of rain fell.  It looked as if a thunderstorm might have been imminent.

I made it home before getting wet and ended up with an additional 7 miles.


 ................road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today.............13...............0.............0..........0.............13 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............653..............0.............0.........0............653 April..............217.............0...............0.........0............217 Total.............1377.............0...............0.........0..........1377 

Getting my butt kicked

A friend was celebrating her birthday with a ride in Portland's West Hills today.  It was posted on a meetup group that I am not a member of, and the invitation was not extended to non-members. It looked like a good ride with about 100 ft of climbing for every mile of distance covered. Since I am not a member I figured I should find some alternate ride. I was thinking about perhaps riding to Multnomah Falls again.

Late last night a facebook friend suggested a ride from the SE area of Portland out to Pumpkin Ridge Road.  I accepted, thinking that would be good training for me and I would enjoy the company.  The morning looked a bit wetter than had been predicted a couple of days ago.   We decided just to ride into the hills, and see where we happened to end up.

She took off across the flats at 18-19 mph.  I'm thinking I'm going to be in for a long day. ;-)
As we started up the hill we stopped so I could take off my rain gear.  We got a few light showers from time to time, but with the effort of trying to keep up with my friend I never got cold.

Paula's smooth pedal stroke always amazes me.  I've never seen that outside of those who've participated in ultra-cycling events such as Race Across Oregon, Furnace Creek 508, or Race Across America, yet she doesn't do any of those.  She attributes it to rowing, where smoothness of stroke is a virtue.  Whatever the cause, it is a pleasure to watch her pedal.......and struggling all day to keep pace, I got to watch her pedal far more than I should have.

When we got to the top of Thompson Rd we got to experience a brief hail shower, always a highlight! :-( We took shelter under a small mail box center's roof and let the worst of the storm pass.
The weather looked dicey, and we rethought the plan to ride out to Pumpkin Ridge.  We instead set our sights on Council Crest.  We made it there and paused just a few minutes to take in the view, take a few photos, and I also put my rain coat back on in anticipation of the descent.

Paula was all smiles

The ascent about killed me!

From there we made our way back down the hill carefully (wet roads!) I was glad I had the rain coat on as it provided protection against the cool air as we descended.  As we neared the Willamette River my front tire caught a seam in the roadway.  For a scary few moments I had no control of the front of my bike. Normally a bike goes down in those conditions, I was happy (and lucky!) to still be upright. We crossed the Willamette River on the Hawthorne Bridge. Once across Paula suggested a bonus side trip to climb Mt Tabor.  It was bad enough that she just buried me on every climb, I didn't want to be a total bike pansy and decline the invitation, so up we went! I still had the rain coat on, and was warm, but not overly so, as I climbed.


We rolled down Mt Tabor then went to a food cart near Paula's house.

I had planned to ride about 140 miles between Saturday and Sunday, instead I got less than 60.  It was still a good day on the bike, and Paula made sure I wasn't slacking.  Thanks!




2785 ft of climbing.

 ................road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today.............28...............0.............0..........0.............28 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............653..............0.............0.........0............653 April..............204.............0...............0.........0............204 Total.............1364.............0...............0.........0..........1364

A Joy Ride

  When I had loftier biking plans Joy Ride, an indoor cycling studio in Salem, was the first to step up and offer sponsorship. Today the owner of that company and I decided we should go for a ride.  There was a 60% chance of rain predicted, and that scared away the folks who were going to ride with us, but it didn't stop Lorie and I from looking for that silver lining as we prepared to shove off into a light rain this morning.

Within a mile or so the drips stopped and we pedaled along on what would soon be dry roads.  The first portion of today's ride headed south on Liberty Rd in Salem.  That meant we were doing some gentle climbing.  That gentleness reached 12% as we entered more rural surroundings.   We rolled down the back side and when we reached the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway we turned and would follow it all the way back to Salem.  We did get a couple of light showers during the ride, but we had far more dry pavement than wet today.   That was a good thing because Lorie did not have fenders on her bike.

When we reached the bridge over the Willamette River near Independence we left the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway, thinking we might go into Independence for a snack.  We stopped to take a couple of photos as we crossed over the river.

We took 15-20 minutes to chat before deciding that we really didn't need any snacks so we turned back around and proceeded toward Salem.

River Road is probably the least desirable section of the 150 mile WVSB.  The road is somewhat narrow, sight lines are poor, and today auto traffic was numerous.  We didn't have any problem however and pedaled back to Riverfront City Park in Salem, our start/finish point today.

We finished the day up with a sample of home brew served up by Jeff, Lorie's husband, and home brewer extraordinaire.  Following that we all three attended a birthday party/Cancer research fundraiser/BBQ whole pig party!  It was a good way to end a good day on the bike.

Altitude range
Altitude from 27 feet to 761 feet
Total climb 1,626 feet

 ................road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today.............31...............0.............0..........0.............31 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............653..............0.............0.........0............653 April..............176.............0...............0.........0............176 Total.............1336.............0...............0.........0..........1336

Great Scott!

 I took off mid afternoon with only the vaguest of destinations in mind.  Early in the day I had entertained the idea of riding to Multnomah Falls, but life got in the way (and taxes!) so when I finally got on the bike, I knew Multnomah Falls would be too far today.  I took off for the Oregon City Bridge thinking I might ride to Portland on the east side of the Willamette River and catch up with my brother-in-law as he cycled home from work. Instead, as I rode past the Clackamas River Trail it sucked me in. :-)

I crossed the Clackamas River near High Rocks and was going to continue on the I-205 path, but heavy traffic and a left turn requiring crossing three lanes in a very short distance modified my plan again.  I kept going straight and soon found myself in some pretty nice riding.  I was in an area of warehouses, the streets were wide, low traffic, and wide shoulders.  I had no need to look for anything different.

In time I crossed Hwy 224 and began to climb.  I didn't know it at the time, but I was in for a climb of Mt Scott.  I continued in a somewhat northerly direction, and eventually intersected the Springwater Trail.
Suddenly a goal materialized.  Women's Forum State Park would be my turnaround point today.

That would add an additional climb, the highest elevation of the day, to my route.  I knew it would bring my total distance to over 80 miles, and with a 3:30PM start, I knew I'd have to up the effort a bit.  I reached Women's Forum State Park, took in the view for just a few minutes, then proceeded back down to the Sandy River.

I could feel my lack of bike fitness again today.  The return route was taxing me a bit.  The miles and elevation gain was a workout, especially with the increased pace I had to ride at.

That's good.  Exactly what I needed.

I arrived back in Wilsonville before lights were necessary, though I did have them on in flash mode starting in Willamette since I was going to be in shaded roads as I climbed Turner Rd.

I took off with a long sleeved jersey, long pants, and a windbreaker today.  I had dark glasses on.  It got cloudier as the afternoon progressed, and from time to time it threatened to rain, even spitting a few drips from time to time. It was never enough to even come close to getting things wet.  Just enough to make me re-think my decision to not bring rain gear.

It was a good ride.



 ................road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today.............86...............0.............0..........0.............86 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............653..............0.............0.........0............653 April..............145.............0...............0.........0............145 Total.............1305.............0...............0.........0..........1305

An Old Time Horse and Buggy Doctor

That's what I felt like today! A Seattle friend needed a new chain and cassette. I've got the tools to do that, and know how to use them. (mostly, LOL!) I picked up the parts a couple of days ago and today loaded them in my backpack and took off across Seattle. As I pedaled along, I couldn't help but envision the old country doctors who traveled to patient's homes via horse and buggy with a black satchel in hand. I arrived and set about changing the cassette. That went well and quickly. The chain took a bit longer, first I put the chain on, but did not thread it through the front derailleur. Then I put it together again, this time not getting the path through the idlers correct. Finally, on the third time pressing the pins back in, the bike was ready to test ride. Alas, replacing the rear cassette and chain did not eliminate the jumping chain. The front sprockets show wear, but honestly not enough to be causing the problem, but they are the only parts not replaced. This horse and buggy doctor was not carrying front sprockets. Those will have to wait for another visit. My friend was feeling out of sorts due to a recent relationship breakup so a short ride was out of the question. She went back home, and I turned back northward. The weather had turned fairly decent following a few days of rain. I was feeling bad that I hadn't got out for a good training ride. When I got to Taylor Street, a climb of almost 400 ft in elevation, I did four repeats. Not exactly the workout I was looking for, but it got the old heartrate up a bit.

 ................road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today.............15...............0.............0..........0.............15 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............653..............0.............0.........0............653 April...............59.............0...............0.........0............59 Total.............1219.............0...............0.........0..........1219

I-205

The weather was nice, I figured I should get out for a ride. I still remember all too well the pain that was climbing the hill between West Linn and Wilsonville on Sunday, so today I started in Willamette. ;-) I crossed the Oregon City Bridge and got on the Clackamas River Trial again.

I puttered around at the trailhead there a bit, and happened to see an old college roommate ride by. I didn't recognize him in riding gear right off, and he had passed me before I was sure it was him. In fact, it wasn't until I called him on the phone that I knew for sure. We had a good laugh, for as slow as I was in recognizing him, he didn't see me at all! I continued along the Clackamas River until reaching High Rocks, then got on the I-205 path and took it to Washington State. Not having my passport with me, I turned around before getting caught by border patrol. :-)

................road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today.............44...............0.............0..........0.............44 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............653..............0.............0.........0............653 April...............44.............0...............0.........0............44 Total.............1204.............0...............0.........0..........1204